Malaysia aims to cut foreign labour by 500,000

DPA Kuala Lumpur, May 22 (DPA) Malaysia’s labour minister said Thursday the government aims to reduce the number of foreign immigrants in the workforce by 500,000 over the next three years. Human resource minister S Subramaniam told parliament that the government was committed to minimizing the country’s dependency on immigrant workers, adding that there are currently 2.1 million foreign workers in all sectors.

“We want to reduce by at least 500,000 foreign workers,” he said.

Despite the governments pledge over recent years to cut back on foreign labour, the country’s plantation and construction industries remain heavily dependent on immigrant workers.

Aside from the 2.1 million legal workers, the country is also home to hundreds and thousands of illegal migrants who are readily employed by employers desperate for workers. DPA